Tile and like wall construction



Oct. 8, 1935.

G. E. BORN TILE AND LIKE WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 19, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet Oct. 8,1935. G. E. BORN 2,

. TILE AND LIKE WALL CONSTRUCTION v Filed Jan. 19, 1933 2 She ets-Sheet2 'liillillllliiw,

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v gZMMm Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TILE AND LIKEWALL CONSTRUCTION George E. Born, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to BocjlCorporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware. as trustee 18Claims.

This invention relates to the construction of walls either on theexterior or the interior of a building, and more particularly to wallsof the type which are covered with relatively thin bricks, blocks, ortiles. The invention will be described particularly with reference totile walls, but it will be understood that this is by way ofillustration and that the term tiles shall be understood to includeeither ceramic or glass tiles and other blocks and bricks used either onthe outside or the inside of a building.

Ceramic tile walls as heretofore constructed have required the use of anexperienced tile setter for their erection. The tile setter first coatsthe walls with a rough coat of plaster or cement. The tile setterendeavors to make this coating as nearly perpendicular as possible.After this base or rough coat has been made and sufficient time haselapsed for it to set, the tile setter then applies the individual tilesto the surface of the wall, cementing each tile in place individually, ahighly adhesive cement being used for this purpose. Each tile has to beseparated a uniform distance from the adjacent tiles in order that.the'- joint between the tiles may subsequently be filled with grout orcement. In order to maintain the distance between the adiacenttiles itis necessary for the tile setter to use some kind of pegs or spacers forkeeping the tiles properly separated after they have been stuck on thewall and until the adhesive cement has set sufficiently to hold thetiles in place. which holds the tiles in place has been set, the spacersor pegs are removed, and the whole wall surface is wiped with a cementor grout mixture, the cement or grout mixture being worked into thejoints between the tiles, the surface of the tiles being wiped clean.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the setting up of a tile wallrequires considerable time and labor and it is, aside from the materialsused, a quite expensive building operation. According to the presentinvention there is provided a means and method by means of which tilesor other facing blocks can be secured to a wall with very much less timeand very much less work than has heretofore been required, and the tilesmay be placed more regularly and evenly than has heretofore beenpossible and at a considerable saving in cost.

In the practice of 'my invention, the tiles, or

other surfacing blocks, are mounted in metal supporting members orclips. These clips are provided with means for engaging .in a speciallyformed metal plate which is first secured to the When the adhesivecement.

wall to be covered. After the tiles are mounted in the clips, the clipsare hung onthe metal sheet, and since the metal sheet has regularlyspaced means for cooperation with the clips, the tiles are uniformlysupported with reference to one 5 another. After the tiles have beenmounted on the supporting panel in this way the grout or cement can beworked into the joints between and around the tiles, and the wall iscompleted. The metal clips are "entirely concealed after the 10 jointshave been filled. The clips can be used with standard shapes and sizesof ceramic tiles without requiring any special molding or cutting of thetiles, and the special shapes commonly used at the base and the top ofthe tile walls can be used with 15 the present invention. Narrow coloredtiles can also be used in special places to provide for border effects.

The invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which 20 have particular reference to a tile wall, but aspreviously stated, instead of tiles, the invention is' applicable to usewith surfacing blocks of various other kinds and shapes.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a partly completed wall, this view showingalso the formation of the wall at the corner, with the side wall insection;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but show- 30 ing a relativelysmaller area of the wall and illustrating, furthermore, one manner inwhich border effects can be produced;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the clips for holding a tile asviewed from the back 35 of the clip;

Figure 4 is a similar view of a special clip for use where the tile hasto be cut to a half or a third or some other fraction of its standardsize;

Figure 5 is a section on a full sized scale in the plane of line V-V ofFig. 2; and

Figure 6 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the manner inwhich the'clips with the tiles are brought into position and mounted onthe supporting panel.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates a sheet metal panel havingmarginal flange portions 3, 'raised portions 4, and regularlyspaced'horizontally extending corrugations or ribs 5. The 50 panels 2are made of a size suillcient to cover a considerable wall area andsufllcient to support quite a number of individual tiles or surfacingblocks. The size of the panels can be varied to meet commercialrequirements. The

wall to be tiled is flrst covered with these panels 2. The marginalflanges I and the bottoms of the ribs or corrugations are provided withclosely spaced nail holes I so that the panels can be nailed to thestudding of the building. By placing the holes close enough together itwill always be possible for one or more nails to be driven into eachstud. Care is taken in securing the panels to the wall that the ribs orcorrugations 5 shall be horizontal. Where the length of the wall isgreater than the length of a panel unit, the units may be arrangedendto-end, and where the height of the wall to be covered is greaterthan the vertical width of the panel unit, the panels can be arrangedone above the other, the flange portions 3 overlapping and maintainingthe proper spacing.

The inwardly formed ribs or corrugations i serve two functions; theflrst is to hold the portions 4 of the panel spaced outwardly from thestuds or from the surface of the wall to which the panel is secured.They are close enough together to prevent any material sagging or springin the panels. Their second function is to reinforce the panels and holdthem rigid so that they will not tend to bow out or sag inwardly betweenthe studding. The panels are formed of a relatively light gauge sheetmetal which is not too thick to be conveniently cut with tin shears, sothat if the panels are made up in standard sizes the person installingthem can cut the panels down to the necessary size to enable the entirewall to be covered.

Formed in the raised portions I of the panel are a plurality of slots I,the metal above each slot being slightly depressed, as indicated at 0,to form a slight groove or depression leading into the slot. The slotsare arranged in horizontal rows, and the rows are arranged in pairs. Forinstance, in Fig. 1 the first two horizontal rows of slots form one pairand the second two horizontal rows of slots form the second pair. Therows of slots are all parallel, but the distance between two rows of apair, 1. e., the distance A in Fig. 2 is less than the distance B. Theslots in each row all line up vertically with the corresponding slots ofthe other rows, so that in a vertical direction there are vertical rowsof slots, these vertical rows being equidistantly spaced.

The individual tiles or blocks, designated 0, are set in metal clips l0.These clips comprise a back wall portion ll having top and bottomflanges l2 and I3, respectively, and side flanges l4 and IS. The backportion II is approximately the same size as the tile to be clipped, andthe flanges are sprung inwardly to a very slight extent so that when atile is inserted in the clip the edges of the tile are held withconsiderable friction by the flanges. The corners of'the clip arepreferably open, as shown. When the tiles are clipped in this mannerthey can only be pried out of the holders with considerable difficulty,the flt being a close, tight one. Moreover, the gripping action of theclips is such that any two opposed flanges are sufllcient to hold thetile in the clip. In other words, under some conditions it is desirableto omit the side flanges, and under other conditions, as will behereinafter explained, it is desirable to cut of! the top or bottomflange, as the case may be.

Punched outwardly from the back of the sheet metal clip are integraltongues ii. The separation between these tongues in a horizontaldirection is the same as the separation of the vertical rows of slots I,and the distance between the tongues in a vertical direction is equal tothe distance A (Fig. 2), i. e., the distance between the slots in a pairof horizontal rows. When the tiles are mounted in the clips and afterthe panel 5 has been nailed to the wall, the tiles can be hung onto thepanel by causing the tongues It to engage in the grooves 8, and thensliding the tile down until the tongues 16 are fully engaged in theslots 1. This is indicated in Fig. 6 where the full 10 line position ofthe detached tile shows the tile being brought up toward the surface ofthe panel.

It is then rested against the panel with the tongues IS in the grooves8, and then slipped down until the tongues are fully home, the tile thenoccupying the position shown by the dotted line in Fig. 6. The tonguesare shaped in such a manner as to facilitate their entry into the slots,and they are preferably slightly resilient in order to frictionallyclamp the clip to the panel 'as the clip is slid down. The sheet metalpanels can be applied to the wall without the use of any special tools,and without requiring any considerable degree of skill. The tiles can befurnished to the user already mounted in the clips, or the user can fltthem into the clips himself. After the tiles are fltted intothe clips,the clips can be very rapidly hung on the panel. The size of the clips,the positions of the tongues, and the positions of the slots I are suchthat the tiles will be spaced 80 an equal distance from one anothervertically and horizontally.

Where it is desirable to use a half width or any width of tile less thanthe full width, the clips shown in Fig. 4 may be used. This may be cutby the user with tin shears from the standard size clip shown in Fig. 3,or it may be furnished as an additional part. As shown in Fig. 4, thisclip has a width much less than the full width of the standard tile. Ithasa back portion 11 and top and bottom flanges I8 and I9, respectively,and has two tongues 20 similar to the tongues l6. Where the tile has tobe cut, as it frequently does at the corners of the room being tiled tofill out the row, this form of clip can be used. It engages only the topand bottom edges of the tile, and for that reason a fraction of a tilecomprising either a third, a half, two-thirds, or any other necessarywidth, can be supported.

So far as described, the invention is applicab to ordinary tiles whichare completely flat. However, it is frequently the practice at the topof the tile wall to use tiles having an inwardly turned flange to form aslight ledge or shoulder at the top of the wall. At the bottom of thewall it is also common practice to use tiles having an outwardly turnedflange. In Figs. 1 and 5 the uppermost tiles designated 2| have aninwardly turned flange, and in Fig. 1, the lowermost tiles designated 22have an outwardly turned flange. For use with tiles such as the tiles 2|it is merely necessary to cut ofi the top flange i2 of the clip. Aspreviously pointed out, the two side flanges are suflicient to hold thetile in place in the clip so that the tile 2i will be firmly held inplace notwithstanding the fact that the upper flange is removed. It isdesirable to leave the lower flange in place in that it facilitatescentering the tile in the clip. It is thus apparent that with thepresent invention standard tiles having the in- 7 turned upper flangemay be used with the same facility as the ordinary flat tiles.

With the tiles 22 substantially the same procedure is followed, but thebottom flange I2 is removed.

Where it is desired to use a narrow colored tile than does the base coatrequired for the laying to produce a border effect, the arrangementshown in Figs. 2 and 5maybe employed. In this case,'the narrow tile isfitted into the bottom of I ing an inturned flangebe used in thiscombination, as it is apparent that the ordinary flat tile can be usedin place of the flanged tile. It is also apparent that instead of theclipmerely holding two tiles, 1. e., 23 and 2!, it may hold a greaternumber of narrower strips. In order to produce the joint effect betweenthe border tile 23 and the tile that is supported in the same clip withit, the border ,tile, 23 may be provided along its upper edge with aslight groove 24 which will catch and retain mortar and cement when thecement is wiped into the joints.

After the wall structure has been erected in the manner described, agrout or cement mixture is wiped over the surface of the tiles, workinginto the space between the tiles, and forming the conventional mortarjoint. This cement effectively conceals the edges of the metal clips. Bycutting away the corners of the clips as shown in Fig. 3, the cement cancreep under the corners of the tiles themselves and thus be eifectivelylocked in place. The completed wall has the appearance of the ordinarytile wall in every respect, with the exception that the tiles, beinglaid on a metal panel, can be more regularly and evenly spaced and morenearly in the same plane. Since the panel is reinforced against bulgingor sagging between the studs of the wall in which it is mounted, thewall will permanently maintain itself. Moreover, the wall will'have lesstendency to crack than does the ordinary tile wall where the tilesbecome an integral part of the building and are caused to crack with anysettling movement of the building structure. In the present inventionthe metal panels yield to the necessary degree before transmittingcracking strains to the tile walls.

In the drawings, the tiles are shown as being square and as being laidwithout staggering or breaking of the Joints. It will be seen, however,that the invention permits the blocks to be staggered or offset wheresuch an arrangement is desired, it being merely necessary to hang theclips in one horizontal row of tile out of vertical line with those ofadjacent rows, the regular horizontal spacing of the slots in the panelpermitting this oif setting'. Also, if rectangular tiles are used whichare multiples of the sizes of the tiles shown, the clips for such tilesmayhave the tongues positioned to engage certain slots in the panel,other slots not being used, it being unnecessary to have more than fourtongues on a single clip for the ordinary lengths of tiles; Forrectangular tiles which are not multiples of the size of tiles hereshown, the spacing of the slots would be varied to-suit the dimensionsof the clips, as will be readily, understood by those skilled in theart, the invention being confined to no particular shape or dimension oftile or other surfacing blocks.

Since the clips and panels are relatively light gauge sheet metal, thewalls can be erected at relatively little expense and without requiringhighly skilled labor. The sheet metal panel, moreover, costsconsiderably less per square foot of ordinary tile.

At the present time ceramic tiles come in various sizes, the smallersize being only slightly smaller than the larger sizes, and it is theprac- 5 tice with the smaller tiles to use a wider mortar Joint. Thepresent invention permits the use of smaller tiles by using smallerclips, but with the tongues ii spaced the same as they are for thelarger tiles. The smaller tiles are thus evenly o spaced over the panel,and a wider space is left between the tiles to form'the wider joint. Onepanel, therefore, will adapt itself to all standard sizes of square tilewithin the range now commercially manufactured, the only change requiredbeing the size of the clips.

As previously stated, while.,I have described the invention withparticular reference to ceramic tile walls, it will beunderstood thatthe invention is applicable likewise to the surfacing of go any otherwalls with previously formed ceramic or earthen blocks or similarsurfacing blocks. It will be understood further that variousmodifications and changes from the specific structures illustrated maybe made within the contempla-' 25 tion of my invention and under thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wall structure comprising a panel member, block holding membersregularly arranged so on the panel, the block holding members and thepanel having regularly spaced cooperating means for positioningandholding a plurality of vertical and horizontal rows of the block holdingmembers on the panel in predetermined relation 35 to one another, andsurfacing blocks in the block holding members, the panel member havingan areasufilcient to receive a plurality of vertical and horizontal rowsof surfacing blocks.

2. A wall structure comprising a panel mem o ber, block holding membersregularly arranged on the panel in rows, the block holding members andthe panel having regularly spaced cooperating means for positioning andholding the block holding members on the panel in predeter- 45 minedrelation to one another, surfacing blocks in the block holding members,the surfacing blocks being maintained in uniformly spaced relation bysaid holding members, and a cement Joint between said blocks, the panelmember hav- 50 ing an area sufficient to receive a plurality of verticaland horizontal rows of surfacing blocks.

3. A wall structure comprising a sheet metal panel member having ribportions on the back surface thereof for engagement against the wall 55oi a building and having raised portions between the'ribs'which are heldin spaced relation to the wall to which the panel is applied by saidribs, said panel having regularly arranged vertical and horizontal rowsof slots therein, block hold- 60 ing members on the panel, each blockholding member having a plurality of tongues for engagement in aplurality of the slots in thepanel for positioning and holding the blockholding panel, and surfacing blocks supported in the block holdingmembers.

5. A wall structure comprising a panel member adapted to be secured to awall and having means therein for holding the panel in spaced relationto the wall, said panel having a multiplicity of slots over its entiresurface, a plurality of individual block holding members on the paneland each having tongues engaging in the slots of the panel whereby theblock holding members are secured in place in the panel, surfacingblocks supported in the block holding members, the slots in the paneland the tongues on the holding members being so positioned as to holdthe blocks in predetermined uniform spaced relation, and a cement jointbetween the blocks concealing the panel and the holding members.

6. Building units for the mounting of surfacing blocks on the wall of abuilding, comprising a panel member, a block holding member adapted toreceive and hold a surfacing block, and cooperating tongue and slotelements on said members for attaching the block holding member to thepanel member, said block holding members comprising backing membershaving side flanges thereon for frictionally engaging the edges of thesurfacing block, the depth of the flanges being less than the thicknessof the blockto be engaged thereby.

7. Building units for mounting surfacing blocks on the wall of abuilding, comprising a panel member adapted tocover a relatively largewall surface, a block holding member adapted to receive and hold asurfacing block, the surfacing block and the holder therefor being of anarea substantially smaller than the area of the panel whereby amultiplicity of blocks can becarrie'd on one panel, said black holdingmemberand said panel having means thereon which interlock for holdingthe block holding member in place on the panel.

8. Building units for mounting surfacing blocks on the wall of abuilding, comprising a panel member, a plurality of block holding clipseach adapted to frictionally receive and hold a surfac ing block,regularly positioned tongue and slot elements on said members forattaching the clip members to the panel members at regularly posi tionedspaced intervals, and blocks carried in the clips and positioned inspaced relation from one another thereby.

9. A building unit for mounting a surfacing block to a supporting panel,comprising a sheet metal member having rearwardly projecting tongueelements thereonand having a pair of forwardly extending flanges thereonfor frictionally engaging at least two edges of a tile or like surfacingblock.

10. A building unit for mounting a surfacing block to a supportingpanel, comprising a sheet metal member having rearwardlyprojectingtongue elements thereon and having a pair of forwardlyextending flanges thereon for frictionally engaging at least two edgesof a tile or like surfacing block, and a tile mounted in said member andhaving a thickness greater than the depth of said flanges.

11. A building unit for mounting a surfacing block to a supportingpanel, comprising a sheet metal member having rearwardly projectingtongue elements thereon and having a pair of forwardly extending flangesthereon for frictionally engaging at least two edges of a tile or likesurfacing block, and a tile mounted in said members and having athickness greater than the depth of said flanges, the flanges beingshorter than the tile whereby they do not engage the corner portions ofthe tile whereby cement can be worked under such corner portions whenthe tile is mounted on a supporting panel.

12. In a wall structure of the class described having tiles supported inindividual clips with tongues at the backs of the clips, a supportingpanel for receiving and holding the clips, comprising a sheet metalplate having horizontally extending corrugations therein forming ribs atthe back of the plate for maintaining the plate in spaced relation to awall against which the panel is positioned, the portions of the panelbetween the corrugations having regularly arranged slots therein forengagement with the tongues on the block holding clips.

13. In a wall structure of the class described having tiles supported inindividual clips with tongues at the backs of the clips, a supportingpanel for receiving and holding the clips, comprising a sheet metalplate having horizontally extending corrugations therein forming ribs atthe back of the plate for maintaining the plate in spaced relation to awall against which the panel is positioned, the portions of the panelbetween the corrugations having regularly arranged slots therein forengagement with the tongues on the block holding clips, the slots on thepanel being arranged in vertical rows and in horizontally extendingpairs of rows.

14. In a wall structure of the class described having tiles supported inindividual clips with tongues at the backs of the clips, a supportingpanel for receiving and holding the clips, comprising a sheet metalplate having horizontally extending corrugations therein forming ribs atI the back ofthe plate for maintaining the plate in spaced relation to awall against which the panel is positioned, the portions of the panelbetween the corrugations having regularly arranged slots therein forengagement with the tongues on the block holding clips, saidcorrugations having nail holes formed therealong, the top and botv lyprojecting tongues thereon, the panel member having regularly positionedvertical and horizontal slots therein in which the tongues of the blockholding members are engaged, and surfacing blocks supported by the blockholding members.

16. A wall structure comprising a panel member, a plurality of blockholding members regularly arranged on the panel member, said blockholding, members having rearwardly and downwardly projecting tonguesthereon, the panel member having regularly positioned slots therein inwhich the tongues of the block holding members are engaged, andsurfacing blocks supported by the block holding members, the panelhaving depressions formed therein above the slots for guiding thetongues of the block holding members into the slots when the blockholding memtom edges of the panel having flat/flanged porbers areapplied to the panel, said panel being rality of individual blockholding clip members on the panel, the clip members and the panel havinginterlocking means for holding the clip members in regular predeterminedpositions, surfacing blocks in the clips of regular size and shape andmaintained in spaced relation with respect to one another by means ofsaid clips, some of the clips being provided with at least two tilesarranged to produce a border eflect.

18. A wall structure comprising a supporting panel member adapted to beplaced against a wall to be covered with surfacing blocks, a pluralityof individual block holding clip members'on the panel, the clip membersand the panel having interlocking means for holding the clip members inregular predetermined positions, surfacing blocks in the clips orregular size and shape and maintained in spaced relation with respect toone another by means 01' said clips, some of the clips being providedwith at least two tiles arranged to produce a border efiect, one of thetiles in a clip where there is more than one tile being re- 10

